Maria Cantwell Gives Positive Responses at Town Hall

As you view photographs of activities here in Spokane on 4comculture.com you may notice that there are very few people of color or affected classes.

WHY?          Let us know in the Contacts / Comments form at the bottom of this post.

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Maria Cantwell Town Hall Video:

https://www.facebook.com/senatorcantwell/videos/1987392528204307/

Cathy McMorris Rodgers Town Hall Video:

https://www.facebook.com/ksps/videos/vb.60581587193/10154911576702194/?type=2&theater

Who was at Cathy McMorris Rodgers Town Hall?

https://4comculture.com/archives/11144

Want to know what Black people are doing?

https://4comculture.com/archives/11203

How I Saw It: Juneteenth Spokane 2017

Black man shot in the back. Jury acquits shooter. SCAR rallies, marches and protests with libations.

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Marchers marched past East Central Community Center where a farewell and retirement dinner for Chuck and Evelyn Anderton occurred. Two celebrations Juneteenth. One struggled for emancipation. The other celebrated emancipation from the job and escape from Spokane’s plantation. Enjoy your Retirement!

On the eve of the Juneteenth march some of the Black religious community gave awards and had a catfish dinner.  Excess catfish was sold to marchers at the BBQ concluding the rally, march and protest.

Trump: “I could shoot somebody and not lose voters”

“Oh, I love the old days, you know? You know what I hate?

There’s a guy, totally disruptive, throwing punches, we’re not allowed to punch back anymore. I love the old days.”                                                                                          -Trump

Freedom is not free! Nor is the Freedom of Information. Bushnell trial  transcript will cost over $3600 just to find out what happened. Who will help our community newspaper The Black Lens News get a transcript copy?

https://www.gofundme.com/black-lens-transcripts

No can speak for you but you. These are some of the people who showed up and spoke up.

Walk With Jordan Davis

Ron Davis, President and CEO, The Jordan Davis Foundation

President and CEO of The Jordan Davis Foundation, established in 2013 to provide education, travel opportunities, and support for America’s youth to increase their academic achievement and self-esteem.  Ron Davis was born in Harlem, moved to Atlanta in 1990 and to Jacksonville, FL in 2002. After his son Jordan’s untimely death November 23, 2013, which succeeded the death of Trayvon Martin, Ron Davis became a steadfast activist against the use of “stand your ground” laws to justify unjustified killings. He is a leader of the Black Lives Matter Movement and is on the planning committee for the US Human Rights Network.

In 2014, Mr Davis spoke at the United Nations Conference in Geneva, “prompting UN representatives to condemn policies of racial discrimination” against US people of color. In addition to responding to President Obama’s invitation to appear at the White House, Mr. Davis and Lucia McBath have shared their tragic story on such programs as CNN-Anderson Cooper 360, MSNBC, Good Morning America, The View with Whoopi Goldberg and the Katie Couric Show.

In demand as a speaker, he has presented to police chiefs, law enforcement, and audiences who have been swept away by the HBO documentary 3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets. This is the movie that captures the murder of his son Jordan and the trials that followed. He bristles when he hears the excuse from a very well-armed assailant that the shooter “feared for (his) life.”

Panel:

Phillip Tyler – President, NAACP Spokane Chapter

Judge Aimee Maurer – Spokane County District Court

Chief Craig Meidl – Spokane Police Department

Caleb Dawson Gonzaga University Student Body President & Act Six Scholar

Dulce Gutierrez Vasquez – Diversity Outreach, Associated Students of Eastern Washington University

 

Sponsored by: Washington State Minority and Justice Commission, Eastern Washington University, NAACP Spokane Chapter, The Law Office of D.C. Cronin, Center for Justice

Spokane’s First Thursday May 4th

Rocket Market 726 E 43rd every First Thursday of the month at 10 am and at 6:30 pm

WHAT ISSUES need WORK to build the communities we want to live in?

How do we increase Spokane Diversity in a RESIST TRUMP MOVEMENT?

LET’S SET UP MORE Coffee Discussions on Social Justice. Locations? Times?

 

 

The Sound Bites Now The Book

Hidden Figures: A Must See for Mothers and Daughters

5,000+ women marched in Spokane. How many will bring their children to see this story?

Scroll down to see other posts from 4comculture.com

 

Let’s Commit Ourselves

Martin Luther King Day Celebration 2017

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OK, we had our celebration with speeches and the march.

Now Let’s Commit Ourselves

Since 2008 news and social media have done nothing but complain about what politicians did and did not do. If they have not accomplished goals and objectives it is no one’s fault but your own.  If you are not satisfied with the 2016 election I suggest that you step up and do something about it.

From the list below, choose the issue you feel needs action,  list the issue and the name of an organization that works on that issue in the comment box below and fill in your contact information. If you do not know of an organization, volunteer to start such an organization. I will pass your contact information on to the appropriated organization. Also I will collate the information everyone contributes and post the results at this site 4comculture.com. To stay aware of current posts at this site in the right hand side bar SUBSCRIBE to receive an email notifying you of new posts (a couple per week).

What Will You Commit To

Protest (Civic Disobedience, Non-violent direct action, Go to jail), Government service, Social justice, Political action, Political parties (Democratic, Republican, Independent, Progressive), Employment (Jobs and training), Housing, Healthy food production, Education (K12, College), Environment (Climate change etc.) Community organizing, Social justice, Community service, Social services, Health and safety, Drug abuse prevention, Community security, Reproductive rights, Hunger, Homelessness, Race relations, Human relations, Art and culture, International affairs, Belief systems (Humanism etc.).

 

MLK Week Kicks Off!

 

After the showing of the documentary film 13th at Bethel AME Church at 10 am on January 14, across town at the Spokane Public Library PJALS (Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane) sponsored a 5 hour hands on workshop: Love > Hate: Bystander Intervention Training which covered:

Being Resistant to Assertiveness

  1. Self-defense
  2. Continuum of Oppression / Nature of Prejudice
  3. The Spinach in Your Teeth Theory and Overview
  4. Putting Assertiveness into Context
  5. Assertiveness Model & Calling In

My observation as I photographed the workshop was that it was excellent. I thought that the information below that was listed on a wallet sized card was a good tool for it was an excellent tool for using white privilege to intervene in oppressive situations.

Assertiveness Model
Breathe.
Describe the problem or name the problem behavior. “The situation is ______.”
Tell why the behavior is wrong or say how it makes you feel. “That’s not ok because _____.” “I feel ________when you _____.”
State your needs or give a direction. “What I/we need is _____.”
Be firm and persistent.

Practice Assertiveness!

Act like a self-respecting equal: You are! You have a right to your opinions, decisions, and to say NO with no excuses. Be persistent!
Visual: Straighten your spine. Breathe deeply. Make direct eye contact. Take up space.
Vocal: Speak in a firm tone. Don’t end statements with question marks.
Verbal: Think & talk about yourself positively. Don’t self-limit with lead-ups or tags. State your needs. Use “I feel ___.” Clarify. Say what you mean directly.
Support others in solidarity and unity.

 

Red Alert! Red Alert!

MLK Week Kicks Off

On January 14 in a small inland northwest town MLK Week kicked off with the Netflix documentary 13th:

Sandy Williams, publisher of the Black Lens News and Rev. Walter Kendricks president of the Spokane Ministers Fellowship started the week of Martin Luther King Jr. Celebrations with the screening of the Netflix documentary film 13th at Bethel AME Church in Spokane hosted by the Rev. Lonnie Mitchell.

Spokane Washington 2015 Census DataAfter the screening the audience – predominantly white residents of the inland northwest – broke up into small groups for discussion. How did they feel? What did they need to do about it?

  1. I wish all the kids in our school district could see this.
  2. I never heard of the organization ALEC.
  3. I have 4 family members with a total of over 100 years in prison plus one with 3 strikes you’re out.
  4. I think we need political action.
  5. I take Netflix and I have never seen this before.
  6. I worked on both sides of this issue – as a corrections officer on the inside and as a youth counselor on the outside.
  7. The corrections industry is a cesspool.
  8. We need to talk about self responsibility.
  9. Black people need to have serious discussions about race also.
  10. White people need to check out SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice). PJALS is starting a SURJ Spokane branch.
  11. Look into  Hope Cafe : Washington State Department of Corrections initiative.
  12. We can send out information to follow up on this meeting.
  13. Subscribe to Black Lens News.
  14. We can join forces with a group started on the west side of the state called Black Prisoners Caucus.
  15. There is a small group that meets the First Thursday of every month at the Rocket Market at 43rd & Scott at 10 am and discusses actions that may be taken to build the community we would like to live in.

As the meeting at Bethel AME was ending a workshop called

Love > Hate: Bystander Intervention Training

was being held by PJALS across town at the Spokane Public Library. This workshop gave hands on experience in how to challenge oppressive statements.